Process for preparing substituted alpha-pyrones

ABSTRACT

A process is described for the preparation of 6-alkyl-alphapyrones which comprises the steps of: I. ACYLATING AN ALKYL-3-BUTENOATE ESTER HAVING THE FORMULA:   WITH AN ACYLATING AGENT HAVING THE FORMULA:   IN THE PRESENCE OF A Friedel-Crafts catalyst to produce a novel mixture of two keto-esters having the formulae:   II. OPTIONALLY SEPARATING SAID MIXTURE INTO ITS INDIVIDUAL KETOESTERS; III. CONTACTING SAID MIXTURE OF KETO-ESTERS OR ONE OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS THEREOF WITH A SOLID, HEAT RESISTANT CATALYST SUCH AS COPPER, STAINLESS STEEL, NICKEL OR STONE AT A TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE OF FROM ABOUT 450*C up to about 600*C, thereby forming a 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrone having the formula:   WHEREIN R1 is C1-C10 alkyl, R2 is lower alkyl and X is chloro or bromo.

United States Patent n91 Klaiher et al.

I45] Mar. 25, I975 I PROCESS FOR PREPARING SUBSTITUTED ALPHA-PYRONES [75] lnventors: Erich Manfred Klaiber, Neptune;

Alan Owen Pittet, Atlantic Highlands, both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, New York, NY.

Primary E.\*um1'nerLorraine A. Weinberger Assislanr ExaminerE. Jane Skelly Attorney, Agenl, 0r FirmArthur L. Liberman, Esq.; Harold Haidt. Esq.

[57] ABSTRACT A process is described for the preparation of 6-alkylalpha-pyrones which comprises the steps of:

i. acylating an alkyl-3-butenoate ester having the formula:

c 0R with an aeylating agent having the formula:

q k I? Cl in the presence of a FriedcLCralts catalyst to produce a novel mixture of two ketoesters having the formulae:

ii. optionally separating said mixture into its individual keto-esters;

iii. contacting said mixture of keto-esters or one of the individual components thereof with a solid, heat resistant catalyst such as copper. stainless steel, nickel or stone at a temperature in the range of from about 450C up to about 600C, thereby forming a 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrone having the formula:

wherein R, is C C alkyl, R; is lower alkyl and X is chloro or bromo.

8 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure Pmmgnmzsms 3.873.574

N2 SUPPLY (I4) DROPPING FUNNEL (l2) CONTAINING KETOESTER REACTANT QUARTZ COLUMNUO) GOODLOE PACKING i; OUT x $01.10 HEAT RESISTANT PACKING(||) I X E i\ HEATING ELEMENT WATER TO CONDENSE) i VAPORS' z C NDE I6) GOODLOE PACKING COOLANT b GLASS WOOL- SEPARATORY FUNNEL(|5) WITH SIDE ARM= To COLLECT REACTION PRODUCT I (6 ALKYL-d PYRONE) PROCESS FOR PREPARING SUBSTITUTED CH3 ALPHA-PYRONES 2 4 I C /COOC H BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 l o-alkyl-alpha-pyrones are valuable substances useful NaOCHB in the formulation of perfumery, tobacco and food flavoring materials, as disclosed in copending Application CH (CH Ser. No. 471,755 filed on May 20, 1974 and copending i Application Ser. No. 471,785 filed. on May 20, 1974, H now US. Pat. No. 3,861,403. Nobuhara, Agr. Biol.

Chem. 1969; 33, No. 9, l264-9 (Title: Synthesis of v Unsaturated Lactones/lll, FlavorousNatu're of Some S-Lactones having the Double Bond at .Various Sites) [1 Eg indicates the waxy, buttercake flavor of 6-pentyl-alphal5 pyrone (pg. 1267, col. 1). In addition, the flavor. attri- 3 butes of -alkyl-alpha-pyrones, in generaL'are discussed. Sevenants, J. Food Sci. 1971,36 (3)536 dis- 0\ closes the occurrence of o-pentyl-alpha-pyrone in peach aroma.

The preparation of 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrones is set forth in several references, to wit: The multi-step sequence of reactions and the low yield a. Lohaus, Chemise/re Berichte, 10,0; 658 (1967) disof final product render the Nobuhara synthesis comcloscs a reaction as follows: mercially impractical.

2 3 5 4 4 3 3 4 R *-C0dH1=C-CQ R R2 R 4 1 2 I s AlCl 7 BOA: R R -COC1 R CH C=C -CO R 3 H 80 l/l HC1 v R .0 0 R R R v 1 -t 5 R -CO-C=C-CH-QO 'R v rg-Pyrone wherein R, R and R are the same or different alkyl THE INVENTION and R and R" are hydrogen or alkyl. Th I As is indicated in Example 1, infra, the yieldof 6- 40 e mvennon dcqqrdmgly cpmpmes the.novel pmalkyl-alpha-pyrones without other ring substituents ob- Cess 1 stepsKspeclflc embodlmems which also mined in y g out the Lohaus et a] reaction described hereinafter by use of experiments and in acquence is so low as to cause this process to be commer- .Cordalice wlthw-hat is {low the preferred pracnce of cially impractical invention. This invention also covers a novel reaction The Nobuhara paper, cited supra, discloses a multig m a mixture step synthesis which gives rise to less than a 10% yield h proceiss of thls mvennor. of fllkybalphwpymne, thuslyz action carried out in two steps, the f rst of which 15 a Frredel-Crafts reaction of an acyl halide with an alkyl- 3-butenoate ester to form a novel mixture of ketoesters and, secondly, lactonizing the resultant mixture CH3(CH 4CHO+NaCECH of keto-esters preferably but not necessarily in the pres- 2 ence of an inert liquid diluent at high temperatures in l the presence of a solid heat-resistant catalyst to form l q the desired 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrone.

More specifically, the process of our invention comprises the steps of:

i. reacting an alkyl-3-butenoate ester having the for- 3 (CH2) 49 CH mula:

- on v p O cooc n W O on (on cc.=cn+cn 3 2 I .2\COOC2H5 with an acyl halide having the formula:

I x v 5 acetyl chloride acetyl bromide prop ionylchloride prop ionylbromide n-butyryl chloride n-butyryl bromide 2-methylpropionyl bromide in the presence of a FriedeLCrafts catalyst to form a Z-methylbutyryl hloride novel mixture of two keto-esters having the formulae: 2- th lb ty yl bromide 3-methylbutyryl chloride O O 3-methylbutyryl bromide (A) R g n-pentanoyl chloride 17 2 OR n-pentanoyl bromide n-hexanoyl chloride n-hexanoyl bromide n-heptanoyl chloride n-heptanoyl bromide 3-methylheptanoyl chloride 4-methylheptanoyl bromide OR 20 S-methylheptanoyl chloride 2 Z-ethylheptanoyl chloride 3-ethyl heptanoyl chloride 4-ethylheptanoyl chloride n-octanoyl bromide n-octanoyl chloride 2-methyloctanoyl chloride 2,4-dimethyloctanoyl chloride 2,4-dimethyloctanoyl bromide 2,5-dimethyloctanoyl chloride 2,5-dimethyloctanoyl bromide n-nonanoyl chloride n-decanoyl chloride n-decanoyl bromide The most preferred alkyl-3-butenoate, in view of its ease of synthesis and commercial availability, is methyl-3-butenoate. Methyl-3-buten0ate may be prepared wherein R is C C alkyl, R: is lower alkyl land X is according to German Offenlegungschrift 1.936.725 chloro or bromo. (published July 2, 1970) by means of the following re Insofar as the Friedel-Crafts reaction is concerned, 40 action:

and

R1 0 CH2 --CH-CH2-C ii. lactonizing this mixture of keto-esters at temperatures of from about 450C. up to about 600C in the presence of a solid, heat-resistant catalyst (such as copper. stainless steel, nickel or stone) to form the desired o-alkyl-alpha-pyrone having the formula:

MeOH, co at: 20 and pH 7. 5-8 CH =CHCH Cl in presence of Ni(.CO)

CH CH-CH -CO Me and (H N) C=S Methyl-3-butenoate also be prepared according to Japanese Patent 29,924 (issued Dec. 23, 1968) according to the following reaction: I

examples of alkyl-3-butenoate ester reactants are as follows:

methyl-3-butenoatc cthyl-3-butenoatc i-propyl-3-butcn0ate n-propyl-3-butenoatc n-butyl-3butenoate i-butyl-3-butenoate t-butyl-3-butcnoate n-amyl-B-butcnoate l(Z-methyl-butyl)-3-butenoate Examples of acyl halides useful in producing the de- 6 sired mixture of keto-esters (which are then lactonized to yield the desired 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrones) are as follows:

Preferably, the weight ratio of catalystzalkyl-3- butenoate reactant is from 1:1 up to 2. Lesser quantities of Friedel-Crafts catalyst give rise to incomplete reaction and/or an inordinately long time of reaction and too great a quantity of Friedel-Crafts catalyst gives rise to difficulties in controlling the reaction.

The Friedel-Crafts reaction is most preferably carried out in a solvent which does not take part in the reaction such as methylene dichloride or dichloroethane', but the reaction does not require such a solvent.

When using a reaction solvent, the combined concentration of reactants (e.g., alkyl-3-butenoate and acyl halide) is preferably between 200 and 800 g per liter of solvent.

The mole ratio of acyl halide reactant to alkyl-3- butenoate reactant is preferably 1:1;however, ifexcess reactant is to be used, it should be the alkyl-3- butenoate that is used in excess.

The molar concentration of reactants in the solvent is from 4 moles per liter up to moles per liter with a preferred concentration of 6 moles per liter.

The temperature of reaction when using a solvent is preferably the reflux temperature of the solvent at atmospheric pressure. Thus, for example, when methylene chloride is used the reflux temperature of 42C. When dichloroethane is used, the reflux temperature is 90C. When no solvent is used in the reaction system, the reflux temperature is about 100C.

The time of reaction varies from about 2 hours up to about 6 hours, depending upon the presence and nature of the solvent and concentration of catalyst used, with higher concentrations of catalyst giving rise to shorter times of reaction and low concentrations of catalyst giving rise to longer times of reaction. By the same token, higher temperatures of reaction gives rise to lower periods of reaction, and lower temperatures of reaction gives rise to longer periods of reaction. Higher temperatures of reaction may beachieved by carrying out the reaction at pressures greater than atmospheric.

The mixture of keto-esters, if desired, may be separated prior to lactonization, by use of such physical separation operations as distillation, preparative gas chromatography and the like. Insofar as the second step (the lactonization) of our process is concerned, the

crude reaction mass comprising the two keto-esters or CH =CHCH -COOMe is preferably, but not necessarily, first diluted with an inert solvent (e.g., benzene, cyclohexane, n-hexane or acetic acid) and is then contacted at a temperature in the range of 450C600C. in an inert atmosphere, preferably, a nitrogen atmosphere, with a solid, heat resistant catalyst such as copper, stainless steel, nickel or stone, the catalyst remaining in the solid state over the reaction temperature range. Preferably, the crude reaction mass comprising the two keto-esters or one of the component keto-esters thereof, is passed under an inert atmosphere through equipment, preferably equipment as is illustrated in H6. 1, which includes one or more columns which is (are) constructed of a material which has high heat resistance and a high heat transfer coefficient (preferably quartz or metal) packed with a solid heat-resistant catalyst such as copper, steel, nickel or stone, which catalyst remains in the solid state over the reaction temperature range. A protruded copper packing catalyst is preferred over steel, nickel or stone packing catalysts.

As reaction surfaces for the purposes of carrying out the lactonization reaction, one or more tubes or other hollow vessels fabricated with or without baffles on the inner surface(s) thereof, constructed of high heat resistant materials having high heat transfer coefficients (e.g., copper, nickel and stainless steel) may also be used.

The lactonization reaction is preferably carried out at essentially atmospheric pressure; however, pressures greater than or less than atmospheric pressure may also be used. The relevant reaction variable ranges for the lactonization reaction are as follows:

Variable Range Concentration range of keto-ester to reactant in solvent 200-500 gm/liter 10- l 00 gm/hour/pass Number of passes through l-4 catalyst bed AlCl Hot column 500 Packe d ,wi th Cu-pack ing (2270-8075) Yield wherein R isalkyl. A -liter reaction flask equipped with stirrer, ther- The following table indicates the 6-alkyl-alphapyrone mometer, dropping funnel and reflux condenser is produced using various acyl halide reactants: purged with nitrogen. 1,200 cc of dichloromethane and 800 g of aluminum chloride is placed in the reaction 5 vessel and the suspension is stirred vigorously. From Aayl Halide Renata! 'Alkyl'Aiphapyrcme Product the dropping funnel, a solution consisting of 300 g of nbutyry] chloride -g opyl-algha-pyrone methyl-3-butenoate and 405 g of hexanoyl chloride is -p y Chlonde y p -Py slowly added so that a mild reflux (approximately 3-methylbutyrylchlor1de -lsobutyl-alpha-pyrone 420C) d th WhePmnoy] chic-ride 6 hexyl alpha pyrone IS main alne IS reac ion s ep 1s exo ermic n-octanoylchlorlde 6-heptyl-alpha-pyrone l0 and requires cooling. When the addition is complete (approximately 60 minutes), the resulting solution is ,Example followmg Sen/.65 to Illustrate the W refluxed for 3 hours. The reaction mass is then cooled ciency of the prior art reaction of Lohaus et al., in the and carefully decomposed by pouring the reaction preparanon of alpha'pyrones Subsmuted n Wlth a mass into excess ice water. The entire reaction mass is gmup- Examples P F Serve then transferred to a separatory funnel and the lower to illustrate embodiments of our invention as it IS now Organic layer is Collected The aqueous phase is then prfiferred m prucncc Examples 4 6 'uustmte h extracted with two 500 cc portions of dichloromethutility of one of the products of the process of our tnane The Organic layers are combined and dried over vention. It Wlll be understood that these examples are anhydrous magnesium Sulfate The dried organic-layers illustrative and the invention is to be considered reare then filtered and evaporated, yielding a Crude prod SIIICted thereto only as indicated in the appended uct a dark brown Oil, weighing 610 g, themole ratio of clams ester having the formula:

EXAMPLE I A. To a suspension of 26.5 g (0.2 moles) of alumi- I p v num chloride in 50 cc of dichloroethane is added a so- R Q lution of 13.5 g (0.] moles) of hexanoyl chloride anad J 10.0 g (01 moles) of methyl crotonate. Over a period of 10 minutes the temperature rises from 25 to 60C. L The reaction mass is refluxed for 4 hours at a tempera- 3O ture of approximately 90C. The resultant methyl-S- t ester h i th f l oxo-decenoate is formed only in a small amount (approximately 23%).

B. To a solution of 52.0 g (0.2 moles) of stannic chlo- O O ride in 50 cc of dichloroethane is added a solution of 7Q 13.5 g (0.1 moles) of hexanoyl chloride and 10.0 g (0.1 I C moles) of methyl crotonate over a period of 10 minutes. The temperature rises from 2540C. The reacg J tion mass is refluxed for 4 hours at approximately 90C. I The resultant yield oi methyl-5-oxo-dccenoate is approximately 5%. being about :45. The actual ratio oi these ketoesters L. To 2) g (02 moles) of 98% borontrifluoride cthvaries according to the reaction parameters. erate is added a solution consisting of7.0 g (0.1 moles) B. LACTONIZATION TO FORM o-PENTYL- otmethyl crotonate and 13.4 g (0.1 moles) of hexanoyl ALPHA-PYRONE Reaction: P nty1-C-CH=CHCH 0OMe 2: 500 m 9 o I 1 O .pentyl penty1- C CH -CHC1CH -0OMe mixture chloride. The resulting solution is then heated at ap- 55 In FIG. 1 is illustrated the apparatus whereby the lacproximately 90C for 2 hours, and then added to ice tonization is carried out. This apparatus consists of a water. No product is formed, as indicated by GLC anal- Lindberg-Hevi-Duty Tube furnace equipped with ysis. Quartz tube (24 X A inches) 10 packed with protruded copper packing (0.24 inch) 11. The tube furnace is ar- EXAMPLE H ranged in a vertical position. A dropping funnel 12 A. PREPARATION OF METHYL-5-OXO-3- which is to contain the reactant, a nitrogen supply 14 DECENOATE ACCORDING TO THE REACTION: and a separatory funnel 15, which is to receive the re- P n l i AlCl pentyl-C-CH=CH-CH C-OMe pentyl-C-C1 CH =CH-CH -C-OMe -9 2 2 ca 01 g 2 2 p ty1 -CH -CHClCH -COMe) mixture action product, to which a condenser 16 is attached is also part of the equipment.

From the dropping funnel 12 a previously prepared solution 13 of 1,000 cc benzene and 610 g crude ketoester mixture prepared according to Part A of this example is passed through the Quartz tube 10 maintained at 490C i 5C over a period of 6-7 hours. The reac-' tion product is collected in the separatory funnel 15.

The reaction product is then successively washed with water, saturated sodium bicarbonate solution and then water again. After drying over anhydrous sodium sulfate and the solvent is evaporated and the resulting residue after the addition of 20 g of Primol (Primol is Nl-TR: ppm prol; on

a. 0.9 1 o.=b. 1.5 -1- ct. 1. 1- e. 2.48 i. 5.85 g. 6.0 h. 7.19

a registered trademark of Exxon Corporation of Linden, New Jersey used to identify white Mineral Oil having a specific gravity of approximately 0.9 and a boiling point of approximately 975F.) is distilled using a 2 inches splash column. The following distillation fractions are obtained:

Fractions 3-7 (237.2 g) are bulked for distillation using an 18 inches silver mirrored distillation column with Goodloe packing. The resultant 6-n-pentylalpha pyrone distills at 92-103 at 0.5 mm Hg., and then redistilled yielding the following fractions:

Frae- Vapor Liquid tion Temp. Temp. Vac. Weight Reflux Pur- No. (C) (C) mm (g) Ratio ity 1 XS/X) 122/124 05 2.8 1:19 M 2 127 0.5 4.2 111) l )0 127 0.5 111 1:1) -1 )u 127 0.5 4.x 1:1) 115% 1 1.10 0.5 L 1:1) )0 t 91 1311 (1.5 8.8 ll) )2 7 92 130 0.5 17.8 1:) 95 ll 92 131 0.5 29.1 1:4 95 9 )2 131 0.5 22.6 1:4 95 10 92 132 0.5 26.0 1:4 95 11 92 136 0.5 13.3 1:9 95 12 92 139 0.5 14.3 1:9 95 13 92 143 0.5 12.8 1:19 95 I4 92 163 0.5 124 1:19 90 15 92 180 0.5 5.1 1:19 85 lo 96 192 0.5 5.5 1:19 17 I02 206 0.5 3.7 1:19 111 110 230 0.5 1.2 1:19 Residue: 5.0 g

Analysis: Fr. 13 11.8 g contains 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone and low boiling impurities. Fr. 4-15 176.3 g is 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone (95%) with an impurity of methyl-5-oxo-3-decenoate (3.4%) Fr. 16-18 9.4 g consists predominately of methyl-S-oxo- 3-decenoate and small amounts of 6-pentylalphapyrone. Mass Spectral, Infra-Red and NMR Analyses: MS: m/e (100), (51), 39(47), M166(41), 81(39), 82(30). 1R: cm 1740 and 1725 split C=O absorptions 1635 and 1555 C=C strecthing bands on (g) H H\ r n l (e) (d) (c) (b) (a) 1 CH '-CH -CH -CH -Cl-l This material has an intense, coconut, peach-like lactonic odor with green floral nuances.

EXAMPLE lll SYNTHESIS OF 6-n-HEPTYL-ALPHA-PYRONE ACCORDING TO THE REACTION:

9 hept yl-C-Cl CH =CHCH OMe To a stirred suspension of 67 g of aluminum chloride in cc dichloromethane at room temperature, a mixture of 25 g of methyl-3-butenoate and 40.5 g of octanoyl chloride is added during a period of 30 minutes while maintaining the reaction temperature at 2025C with external cooling. The resulting solution is refluxed for a period of 2.5 hours. The resulting brown reaction product is then decomposed by pouring same into excess ice-water mixture. The organic layer is collected and the aqueous phase is extracted with two 250 cc portions of diethyl ether. The combined organic layers are then washed with saturated salt solution and dried over anhydrous magnesituu sulfate. The solvent is then evaporated and the residual oil weighing 82.5 g is dilutetl to a volume of 150 cc with cycloliexane and placed in the dropping funnel 12.

The resulting solution is passed dropwise through a Quartz column 10 packed with 0.24 inch of protruded copper packing 11, in the apparatus as set forth in FIG. 13 heated to 500C over a period of approximately 90 minutes. The reaction product, recovered in scparatory funnel 15 is then evaporated using a Buchi evaporator (10 mm Hg/75C) and then the resulting residue is distilled under reduced pressure employing a short path column according to the following distillation:

Vapor Liquid Temp. Temp. Vacuum Weight N0. (C) (C) mm g (g) Fraction 2 is then re-distilled using a micro Vigreaux column according to the following distillation data:

Vapor Liquid Temp. Temp. Vacuum Weight No. (C) (C) mm Hg (g) NMR, GLC, IR and mass spectral analyses confirm that the resultant material is n-heptyl-alpha-pyrone.

Mass Spectral, Infra-Red and NMR Analyses:

MS: m/e 95(100), 39(75), 110(52), 27(38), 82(36), 41(35), M194(l7) IR: cm 1740 and 1725 split C=O absorptions; 1635 and 1555 C=C stretch bands ppm proton assignment 1 NMR:

a. 0.86 (i) e.=d.=c.=b. 1.5

This material has a fatty, fruity aroma.

EXAI IPLE IV MOODY, APHRODT'ISIA PERFUME FORI-IULA'IIOU The following mixture is prepared:

Ingredient Parts by wei ht Vanillin 2 Myrrh Coeur Olibanum Coeur 12 Ingredient Pa b Wei h l--(4-methyl, t-hydroxyamyl)A 2O cyclohexene carboxaldehyde Ylang Extra 5 p-t-butyl .cyclohexyl acetate (27% 5O "cis" isomer) IndOl 1 Gamma Methyl Tonone Jasmine Absolute 5 Rose Absolute 5 Eugenol l5 Isoeugenol l0 5-Norbornyl-cyc1ohexanol lO 6-oxa-l,l,2,5,Efl-bexamethyl- 5 2, 5 5 6 '7,8hexahydro-lH-benza( i) indene (j) H 4 I m (s) (d) (c) (a) 'o/ \CH2-CH2 2 2 6-nbutylalpha- -pyrone 15 )(6.7;$ of J 6-n-pentyl-alpha-pyrone 5) formul 8171011) The 6-n-butyl-aIpha-pyrone imparts a floral, sweet character to this woody, aphrodesia perfume formulation. The 6-n-pentyl-alpha-pyrone imparts a green. coconut, tobacco note to this woody, aphrodesia perfume formulation.

EXAMPLE V PREPARATION. OF SOAP COMPOSITION One hundred grams of soap chips are mixed with one gram of the perfume composition of Example IV until a substantially homogeneous composition is obtained. The perfumed soap composition manifests an excellent blue grass character with lovage, foenugreek notes.

EXAMPLE VI PREPARATION OF A DETERGENT Y COMPOSITION PACKING EXAMPLE VII PREPARATION OF 6-PENTYL-ALPHA-PYRONE USING VARIOUS HEAT RESISTANT SOLID CAT- ALYSTS A. USE OF SADDLE STONES 50 g of ester mixture prepared according to the process of Example II (A) is treated in an apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 as follows. 50 g of ester mixture is diluted with cyclohexane to a volume of 150 cc. The mixture is passed through a quartz column (l).at 495C over a period of 120 minutes. After solvent recovery, 44.8 g of a mixture of ester and -pentyl-alpha-pyrone is recovered, the mole ratio of ester:lactone being (67.5):(32.5) by gc area normalization. B. USE OF STAINLESS STEEL PROTRUDED PACKING (0.24 INCI-I TYPE 316 STAINLESS STEEL) AS CATALYST 50 g of ester mixture prepared according to the process of Example II (A) is diluted with cyclohexane to 150 cc. The solvent is passed through the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. The first pass is over a period of 1 hour at 490495C yielding 135 cc of a solution in which mole ratio of esterzlactone is 3051695. The second pass over a period of 1 hour at 490495C yields 27 g of crude product after solvent evaporation having an esterzlactone ratio of 8:92 by gas chromatographic analysis. C. USE OF STAINLESS STEEL PROTRUDED (0.24 INCH TYPE 316 STAINLESS STEEL) AS CATALYST 50 g of ester mixture prepared according to the process of Example II (A) is diluted with acetic acid to 150 cc. The first pass through the quartz tube over a period of 1 hour at 490495C yields a material having an esterzlactone ratio of 19:81. The second pass yields 16.9 g of crude lactone after solvent evaporation, the o-n-pentyl-alpha-pyrone having purity of greater than 95%. D. USE OF NICKEL PACKING CATALYST (0.26 inch) 100 g of the ester mixture prepared in Example II (A is diluted to 300 cc with hexane. Over a period of 4 hours. the solution is passed through quartz tube 10 in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. The resultant crude material has by gc analysis an esterzlactone mole ratio of 25:75. Final yield of distilled 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone is 46.5 g. E. USE OF STAINLESS STEEL PACKING (0.26 inch) CATALYST 100 g otester mixture prepared according to the process of Example II (A) is diluted with cyclohexane to 300 cc. The resulting solution is passed through the quartz column 10 in FIG. 1 over a period of 4 hours, the resultant solution (240 cc) on evaporation yielding 80.5 g ofa brown residual oil. Fraction 3 ofthe product (64.5 g. containing 85% lactone and ester) is distilled to give an 80% yield of (a-pentyl-alpha-pyrone.

What is claimed is:

I. A process for producing a 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrone comprising the steps of:

i. reacting an alkyl-3-butenoate having the structure:

with an acyl halide having the structure:

in the presence of a Friedel-Crafts catalyst whereby -a mixture of keto-esters is formed having the structures:

11. contacting said keto-esters with a solid heat resistant catalyst selected from the group consisting of wherein R is C -C alkyl, R is lower alkyl and X is chloro or bromo.

2. The process ofclaim I wherein the temperature of reaction in step 2 is about 500C.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein X is chlorine.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein R is n-pcntyl.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein R is methyl.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein R is methyl, R is n-pentyl and X is chlorine.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein the solid heat resistant catalyst is protruded copper packing.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein the catalyst is in a cylindrical vessel. 

1. A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING A 6-ALKYL-ALPHA-PYRONE COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: I. REACTING AN ALKYL-3-BUTENOATE HAVING THE STRUCTURE:
 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the temperature of reaction in step 2 is about 500*C.
 3. The process of claim 1 wherein X is chlorine.
 4. The process of claim 1 wherein R1 is n-pentyl.
 5. The process of claim 1 wherein R2 is methyl.
 6. The process of claim 1 wherein R2 is methyl, R1 is n-pentyl and X is chlorine.
 7. The process of claim 1 wherein the solid heat resistant catalyst is protruded copper packing.
 8. The process of claim 7 wherein the catalyst is in a cylindrical vessel.
 11. contacting said keto-esters with a solid heat resistant catalyst selected from the group consisting of protruded copper packing, nickel packing, stainless steel packing and stone saddles at a temperature of from abouT 450*C up to about 600*C for a period of time sufficient to form a 6-alkyl-alpha-pyrone having the structure: 